British Airways rolls out first refitted Boeing 777-200

Customers flying to New York’s Newark airport have been the first to experience British Airways’ latest seats and cabins following the first complete refit of one of the airline’s Boeing 777-200s.

The aircraft was the first of 18 to be fitted with British Airways’ recently launched First cabin, new World Traveller and World Traveller Plus cabins and the airline’s latest Thales in-flight entertainment system.

The multi-million pound refurbishment gives the 18 Boeing 777-200s the same contemporary interiors as British Airways six brand new Boeing 777-300ERs.

Frank van der Post, British Airways’ managing director, brands and customer experience, said: “This exciting and ambitious refit now brings our 777s right up to date, with new interiors and the very latest in-flight entertainment system.

“We have had fantastic customer reaction to our new fleet of Boeing 777-300ERs, which originally showcased our new cabins, and we know those who travel on these 18 aircraft will be equally impressed with our investment.

“Customers will be able to enjoy the very best travel experience British Airways has to offer, with more comfortable seats and brighter, more contemporary cabins.”

Over the next five years British Airways will be investing more than £5 billion in new aircraft, smarter cabins, elegant lounges, and new technologies to make life more comfortable in the air and on the ground.

It takes British Airways’ Cardiff-based engineers, at the airline’s Welsh maintenance base, approximately a month, or 5,700 man hours, to carefully remove a 777’s old seats and interiors and replace them with the airline’s very latest cabins.

Each aircraft will also have a staggering 13 kilometres of wiring removed and new fibre optic cables installed to power the new in-flight entertainment system.

New widescreens will be fitted in Club World and customers flying on these refitted Boeing 777-200s will also be able to experience the airline’s sophisticated new First cabin.

New seats and cabins in World Traveller Plus and World Traveller, feature the latest cushioning technology and in-seat power sockets.

The Thales in-flight entertainment system offers over 700 hours of movies, TV and music options on demand; that’s more than 230 TV programmes, 70 films and 400 CDs – providing customers with 50 per cent more choice on movies and doubling the range of TV and music options, as well as plug and play technology.